Let’s face it, erosion is inevitable. In the pictures below, what you will see was once a sea wall, that is, a futile attempt to keep sand where we humans think it should stay. The ocean moved the sand, as it always does; and the ocean removed pieces of the wall, one chemically weathered molecule at a time. The result is a relic that charges my imagination every time I visit its beach, in Santa Barbara, California.

This former seawall now evokes a line of creatures.

The creatures have tide pools growing up their sides!

I’m guessing that the tidepool growth protects the remaining wall from more erosion.

Detail of a creature’s “leg”.

At the feet, anemones are open for business.

The dense organization of shells makes complex designs in the creature’s hide!